Suspected robber insists he’s innocent

ONE OF three Oldham men alleged to have robbed a taxi driver at knifepoint told a trial jury he was totally innocent.

Electrician Liam Fairfoull (21) said he believed Zeshan Akram and a third man he understood to be Akram’s cousin had hatched the plot in their own language and he hadn’t been able to understand them.

He told a jury at Manchester Crown Court he had been stunned when the unknown man, referred to only as “S”, suddenly produced a weapon and demanded the driver’s cash, mobile phone and keys after the trio had been picked up in Werneth.

The jury was told the unknown man had held what the driver believed to be a knife at his neck and said he would stab him unless he handed over all his cash.

Fairfoull said he had played no part in what happened, and as soon as the other two got out of the vehicle, he did the same and ran off in panic. But CCTV pictures later showed all three first running, then strolling amicably an hour and a half later.

Fairfoull of Striding Edge Walk, Higginshaw, insisted he had tried to get away from the other two, but they had caught him up and he had felt threatened.

Asked in court if he had known anything about the plan to rob the taxi driver or been involved in any way, he said he hadn’t.

The jury was told that Akram, of Copster Hill Road, Oldham also said he hadn’t known the third man, and believed he was a friend of Fairfoull. He too denied involvement in the robbery, but the cabbie’s money puch had been found at his address.

The jury was told Akram had chosen not to give evidence in his own defence. Both men plead not guilty to robbery.

The case continues.